


One Rule

by JaceRMontague



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), SwanQueen - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 02:13:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5316419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaceRMontague/pseuds/JaceRMontague
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina storms away from Emma after being summoned to help care for baby Neal, and by the end of the night Emma and Regina had gotten very, very drunk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Rule

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little SQ OneShot, If any of you are following Bare Knuckled, i'm sorry its taking so long for the next chapter, I've been ill over the last couple weeks and college has piled on the work so I've done very little other than go to college and then go home to sleep. This OS is my 2653 word apology for being slow with BK. 
> 
> I hope everyone likes it and if there are any errors in it i'll comb through in the morning to find them.  
> I hope you all like tonight's episode too, I intend on staying up to live stream it.

_Emma lay there._

She was lying across the middle of Mary Margaret's bed, her knees bent and her feet still on the floor from where she had thrown herself backwards in exasperation when Regina had stormed out. 

 

Prior to Regina storming out and Emma consequentially throwing herself across her mother’s bed; Emma and Regina had been helping Mary Margaret as she cried over Neal being restless as he was teething. 

 

The former princess-turned bandit-turned queen had not slept for more than two hours over the last three days and had called Emma, who unwilling to spend time with her mother and brother alone, called Regina to help. The blonde claimed that she had wanted Regina with her because the brunette was the only one out of the trio who had raised a baby. 

 

The three were civil enough, considering the facts that Snow still wasn’t completely trusting of Regina and Regina didn’t care much for Snow, her opinion and, most recently, her whiney, teething, loud son; Regina didn’t want to admit to herself that the reason she didn’t like the newest member of the Oh-So-Charming family was because his name hurt Emma. And his existence hurt Emma. So Regina chose to believe she didn’t like the baby because he was an inconvenience that caused her to be dragged from her home to help look after him, and despite the fact that the Mayor was spending the day home alone missing Henry who was spending the day with David, the baby had inconvenienced her and therefore he must be disliked.

 

After calming her mother down, Emma made the woman sit down to eat and drink, because despite Snows determination that she had eaten, Emma didn’t believe her. While Emma was heating pop tarts and mugs of coca, Regina was cradling the child, holding him close to her chest, singing a quiet lullaby in Spanish to him as he quietened his shrill screams.

Once Neal was sleeping and Snow had eaten and calmed down, the three women sat in the sitting room, talking about anything and everything from the mundane such as how many times Leroy had been put into a cell for being drunk and disorderly in the last month – it was seven times – to the very unmundane such as their adventure in Neverland and did one another think that Henry would be scared for life at the events that had unfolded while they were at the Island.

After an hour, as Regina was readying herself to leave, Neal’s screams filled the apartment once more. Without listening to Snow’s ‘I’ll get him’, Regina stood and walked back to the baby’s bassinet, she scooped the boy up and sang to him once more as she attempted to find out why he was awake once more. His diaper wasn’t full, so he obviously didn’t need changing. He wouldn’t take his bottle, so he wasn’t hungry. He refused an ice ring or anything else he could chew on for that matter, so he wasn’t teething. He screamed louder when Snow attempted to find him, so he didn’t want her – this Regina found, made her secretly happy, she had to stop herself from laughing out loud. As Regina held him once more and he quietened again she realised the child only wanted to be held – by her – by this point she was biting her own tongue to stop herself cackling at this revelation. As she gently stroked locks of the boy’s hair she found herself needing to remind herself that she was supposed to dislike the boy.

Because he was an insufferable, screaming, inconvenience. 

He fell asleep, Regina held him close for a couple more minutes to ensure that he was asleep – at least, that’s what she told herself, and then she finally put him in the bassinet, she turned to walk away and saw that Emma was stood at the foot of Snow’s bed.

‘Why are you stood there watching me, Emma?’ Regina asked quickly but quietly.  
‘You were gone a while. The kid stopped crying ten minutes ago, I was making sure everything was okay.’

‘Why wouldn’t it be okay?’ Regina snapped, she was unsure why she was so defensive all of a sudden but she was.

‘Whoa, Regina, there’s no need to get all angry at me, I didn’t mean to cause offence, there’s no reason things wouldn’t be okay, I just making sure I was right.’

‘Of course everything is okay.’ Regina began ‘You seem to forget that I have handled children before, in fact, dear, _I raised the child that you gave away!_ ’

‘Regina! Chill your shit, I just meant-’

‘Do yourself a favour, Emma, and shut up.’ Regina said harshly before storming away from Emma – who to keep out of   Regina’s way sat on the bed - Regina grabbed her jacket and handbag, and left the apartment before snow could even comprehend that Regina was leaving. The second the door was shut Emma threw herself backwards, her feet still on the ground. She lay there for a couple of minutes before she herself left the apartment, she couldn’t bear to be around her mother and the baby without somebody else around. Her farewell to Snow as she left was more of a ‘good-riddance’ than a ‘good-bye’.

Within the hour Emma had found herself in The Rabbit Hole with half a bottle of whiskey clouding her mind as she wondered about where her life had taken such a turn. When she was 27 she was an orphaned bail bonds woman who lived in the city, the most magical thing she knew was 24 hour pizza delivery, and she had no friends and no family apart from parents who had abandoned her and a son she had given away. Now she was 31 and she had a mother and father who drove her insane, she was in constant fear of not being good enough for them, she was the sheriff of a small magical town, she was the supposed saviour, she had the son she had given away and his other mother was her friend, as well as half of the town. Sometimes, she thought to herself, she misses being lonely; at least that way the only person she could hurt was herself, she didn’t have to think about upsetting parents and her son and his other mother – lord knows what upset Regina this afternoon, Emma continued to think to herself as she poured another drink for herself from the bottle of whiskey that the bartender had left on the bar for her.

‘It’s not even five o’clock yet.’ Someone said behind Emma.

‘It is somewhere.’ Emma replied as Regina sat at the barstool besides her.

Emma raked her eyes over Regina as the brunette sat beside her.

‘Is there a problem Emma?’

‘You said it yourself. It’s early to be drinking, especially when you’re mayor Regina Mills.’

‘And you said it’s five o’clock somewhere which is good enough for me.’

Regina lifted an arm to call the waiter over but Emma pulled her arm back down

‘If you even think about giving me a speech about drinking in the afternoon I will kill you.’

‘You have me mistaken for my mother. I was going to suggest shots.’

‘Shots sound good.’

Emma gestured for a round of shots and the waiter obliged, placing a round of shots in front of the women.

Half an hour later, when both women were buzzing from the round of shots and vodka chasers but neither were actually drunk, they left the bar to head to Regina’s for her famous apple cider.

Emma followed Regina to her kitchen.

‘What was earlier about?’

‘I don’t like my parenting being critiqued.’

‘I wasn’t criticising your parenting though.’

‘I know, I’m sorry.’

Emma nodded as a response and took a glass of apple cider from Regina.

The two women sat talking and drinking, both of whom were drunk by the time it did turn five o’clock.

-

Emma couldn’t open her eyes without her head feeling like a bullet was going through it. As for her memory, she could barely remember her own name, never mind why she was sitting against a wall on the stairwell outside her parents’ apartment.

She continued lying on the cold landing, the cold brickwork was soothing to her head. She had no idea how long she had been lying there before she heard someone come up the stairs. She was going to move, but her body felt like weights and she had the sudden realisation that if she did sit up, she would be sick. Or pass out. Or both – probably both, so she remained still.

She had drifted asleep between someone beginning to climb the stairs and that person actually getting to the top. Emma awoke to David shaking her slightly.

‘Emma? _Emma!_ Are you okay? Are you awake?” Emma heard her father say to her.

The blonde opened her mouth to respond but instead she just groaned.

‘Come on, Emma. Let’s get you inside.’

‘If I move, I’ll be sick,’ she muttered without moving the slightest.

‘As long as you’re not sick on your mother’s new Persian rug it doesn’t matter. Come on.’ He said as he gently wrapped his arm around his daughter’s shoulders and pulled her up from the ground.

‘If I don’t sit down again, I _will_ throw up.’ Emma mumbled into her father’s shoulder as he unlocked the front door. 

‘You can sit on our sofa then.’ He replied as he nudged the door open with his foot and pulled his daughter into the apartment and sat her on the sofa.

‘Where’s Henry?’

‘He wanted to stay the night at Gracie’s. I rang Regina to make sure it was okay, you were with her at the time. You talked her into letting him stay over.”

“I have no idea that happened. I can’t remember anything. What time is it now?’

‘Emma. Its eleven pm.’

‘It’s early!’ She exclaimed.

‘Shush! You’ll wake your brother. And it might be early to you but its late enough that you passed out on my doorstep with no idea what happened.’

‘I got drunk with Gina.’

‘Clearly. I’m getting you water and a bucket in case you do throw up. Okay?’

Emma nodded and slid down the sofa until she was lying down. By the time David had returned with a blanket, a bucket and a glass of water, Emma was asleep, again.

Crying. That was all Emma could hear when she next woke up. Her brother was screaming blue murder once more. Fortunately for her, her head was much clearer, although she sill couldn’t remember anything but she could handle noise and opening her eyes.

 ‘Good morning, Sleepyhead.’ Mary Margret said as she rocked her screaming son.

‘Is it really only the morning?’ Emma said, prepared to roll over and go back to sleep.

‘9:27, if were being precise. Impressive, you slept through your brother crying three times.’

‘If only it was four times.’

‘Aw does your head still hurt?’ David chimed in from behind Emma.

‘No, I’m still tired.’

‘Aww poor little Emma.’ David continued jokingly

‘Ahahaha. Funny. Yes, poor Emma. I need coffee’

‘Get your own.’

‘ _But Daaavid_ ’ She whined

‘Fine, I’ll make you some coffee, princess.’

‘ew. No. no princess. Kick-ass sheriff perhaps, but no princess.’

‘Fine, ill make you some coffee, kick-ass sheriff’

‘Thank yooou.’  

David brewed Emma a mug of coffee and then disappeared to the other side of the apartment to his son.

Emma sat up, folded the blanket that had been on her and then shrugged off her trade mark red leather jacket, as she brought the mug of coffee to her lips she heard her mother gasp over the noise her brother was making still, she looked up and saw Mary Margaret staring at her.

‘What?’ Emma asked bluntly

‘Your arm.’

Emma looked at her arm and saw it was covered in overlapping circular bruises. As she examined her arm she saw certain points of most of the bruises had drawn blood. She looked at the marks and realised they were bite marks. Suddenly, the evening before came back to Emma’s memory, she and Regina had _slept_ together. Well, sleeping together was an exaggeration considering Emma had slept on her parents’ sofa, but still. Emma had left to get some scotch, her particular favourite was in a cupboard in the apartment. She’d tripped on the stairs and passed out, which is why she had been asleep on the landing instead of returning to Regina’s. Emma placed her mug down, and ran a hand through her hair, there were traces of dried blood on her hand which confirmed why her head had hurt so much. She pulled her jacket back on and left without saying anything to her parents.

She got to Regina’s in less than five minutes and pounded on the front door of the mayoral mansion until Regina answered the door, dressed in her robe and looking really quite hungover herself.

‘What? Did you have to go to Boston for this famous Scotch, _Miss Swan_?’

‘Oh, don’t _Miss Swan_ me. We’ve been through way too much for that.’ Emma said as she pushed pass Regina and into the hallway.

‘I did not say you could come in!’ Regina said coolly  
‘I did not ask for your permission’ Emma responded in like.

‘So you can return now but not at nine o’clock last night?’ Regina asked bitterly as she slammed the front door shut and stormed into the living room.  
‘I fell. And smashed my head off the door handle to my parents’ apartment. My hair is still matted in blood, if you _need_ evidence. Seeing as as soon as my memories returned after knocking myself unconscious I came over here.’ Emma bit back, following the mayor.

‘How did your memories return then, dear?’ Regina said edgily, not quite believing what Emma was saying.

‘I saw my bloody arm.’

‘Bloody, or _bloodied_?’ The brunette smirked.

‘Both.’ Emma said angrily as she ripped her jacket off to reveal her left arm and every mark on it.

Regina held Emma’s arm gently, admiring her handy work.

‘I’m really quite impressed with myself dear, I must admit.’

‘Of course you fucking are!’ Emma burst. ‘Did last night mean _anything_ to you or was I just an easy fuck?” The blonde continued shouting.

‘Don’t be so preposterous, Emma. Of course last night meant something to me. Did it to you?’ The brunette asked, it was the first time since that ‘ _incident_ ’ with Pan that Emma had seen Regina show any kind of vulnerability.

‘Of Course it did! Because you mean something to me! In fact – Regina, you mean quite a fucking lot to me!’

Sparks – literal sparks – flew across the room as the light bulb above the women’s head’s exploded.

Both women ducked from the flying glass shards, Regina stayed higher than Emma, shielding the blonde the best she could from the exploded glass.

‘Well, it appears that your head injury has impacted upon your magic, dear.’

‘It appears as if my magic has set fire to your coffee table.’ Emma nodded towards coffee table in the middle of the room that was now burning.

Regina flicked her wrist and the fire was extinguished. She stepped closer to Emma and moved her hair to see that there was in fact, quite a nasty gash across the side of the blondes head.

‘Do you want to make this, us, a thing?’ Regina practically whispered against Emma’s ear, the blonde could only nod in response.

‘Good, so do I. But there’s rules. Rule one; _do not set fire to my stuff_ ’ Regina began as she started to heal Emma’s injury. ‘Period. That’s it. That’s the one rule. Don’t set fire to my stuff.’ She took her hands from Emma’s head, the wound healed. Emma looked Regina in the eye.

‘I know, I’m sorry.’

 


End file.
